On Monday morning, the first flight from Russia arrived at Hurghada Airport in Egypt, while the first Russian flights to Sharm El-Sheikh are expected to arrive tomorrow. This follows the resumption of Russian air traffic to Egyptian tourist cities. EgyptAir announced in a statement that the international airport in Hurghada welcomed the first flight of the airline coming from the Russian capital Moscow, flight number MS724, an Airbus A330-300, carrying 300 Russian tourists, marking the beginning of a new phase for the return of Russian tourism to the cities of Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh.
The company stated that the aircraft was greeted with the traditional water salute upon landing, and passengers were welcomed with flowers and commemorative gifts on this occasion. In this context, the Chairman of EgyptAir Holding Company, Amr Abu El-Einain, confirmed that for the first time, EgyptAir is operating regular direct flights between Moscow and both Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh, coinciding with the decision to resume tourist flight operations between Egypt and Russia, in addition to the airline's daily flights between Cairo and Moscow. This significantly contributes to providing new travel services and options that attract a greater number of travelers and tourists from Russia to Egypt.
Abu El-Einain added that EgyptAir will operate 4 weekly direct flights from Moscow to Hurghada and 3 weekly direct flights from Moscow to Sharm El-Sheikh. Russia announced weeks ago the resumption of tourist flights to Egypt after a hiatus of nearly 6 years, following the crash of a Russian passenger plane over Sinai in 2015. The Russian Foreign Ministry previously stated that the resumption of charter flights to Egyptian resorts would take place during this summer.
Moscow suspended flights to and from Egypt after the crash of an Airbus A321 belonging to a Russian airline over Sinai at the end of October 2015, which resulted in the deaths of 224 people on board, later determined to be due to a terrorist act. After that, regular flights resumed only to Cairo Airport, while charter flights to Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada remained suspended. Egypt and Russia agreed in April to resume full air traffic between the two countries' airports, including Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh.
